Remastered version of Dark Souls leading to blue screen issues
Remastered version of Dark Souls leading to blue screen issues
Hello,
I've been playing Dark Souls: Remastered on my Razer Blade Stealth 13 ( processor: i7-1165G7, graphics card: GTX1650TiMax-Q, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
At some point recently I started getting this problem where the controller would just disconnect: i.e, the game stops getting inputs from the controller. Keyboard and mouse still work, but not the controller.
Using an X-Box One Controller: It doesn't matter if it's plugged in or wireless, it still eventually happens, let's say: If I play for an hour, there's a 30% chance that this will happen near the end of that hour.
When this happens, I exit the game and start it up again. The controller still isn't recognized.
So I reboot the computer and start the game again: Controller works again until the next incident.
I was using this workaround for a while, until recently, this started happening:
When I rebooted, the computer would go to a blue screen death without having finished the reboot. It would then have some kind of recovery screen where it counts up a percentage of recovery, reboots, then
fails again. It repeats this cycle until it successfully starts windows again.
I'm wondering what's going on with my computer. I don't know for sure if Dark Souls is to blame, but I'd like to find out what's going on in any case.
Does anyone have any ideas?
usb simply conceals the driver when the device is unplugged. you need to open the windows control panel, go to device manager, locate the hidden devices menu, and remove the driver from there. for usb devices, the driver might disrupt the entire usb subsystem even after removal. (the driver remains active but invisible to the user)
often the main issue is that the usb driver fails to respond to a wake command. windows may put the usb port into sleep mode to conserve power. if you know the specific port, open device manager, right-click it, and select the power management option to disable it.
usb simply conceals the driver when the device is unplugged. you need to access the windows control panel, device manager, locate the hidden devices menu, and remove the driver from there. for usb connections, the driver might disrupt the entire usb subsystem even after removal. (the driver remains active but invisible to the user).
the main issue often lies in the usb driver not responding to a wake command. windows may put the usb port into sleep mode to conserve energy. if you know the specific port, open device manager, right-click on it, and adjust the power management settings to prevent it from sleeping.
for certain devices, you must check the HID human interface device list, locate the device, and verify the power management tab. this ensures the usb port doesn’t enter sleep mode despite instructions.
each connected port may require a separate adjustment. if the ports are linked to a usb hub, you must instruct the system not to power down the hub.
usb installations typically install distinct drivers for each port, leading to multiple versions. this can become confusing and difficult to track since the driver remains active even when hidden.
to resolve deeper issues, consider modifying memory dumps to kernel memory dump format, then provide the large memory.dmp file during subsequent bugchecks.
kernel dumps contain debug information and internal logs for the usb subsystem. these can be analyzed using the window debugger windbg.exe.
additionally, there are regulatory changes in eu laws mandating power-saving features. some motherboards include bios settings that automatically put usb ports to sleep after a delay. (just in case your ports enter sleep mode even after you instructed otherwise)
i have experienced this on a system with a bios setting in the eu, which caused the issue.
PSU details: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original, new, refurbished, used)?
Check the Reliability History and Event Viewer for any error logs related to disconnections.
Frequent errors suggest the PSU may be in trouble.
Review thoroughly and update accordingly.
It's a laptop. Everything felt brand new when I received it, around March or April 2021.
Actually, not so much. When I try to use it for gaming, I place it on a cooling pad equipped with a fan.
In the reliability Monitor I notice entries like "Windows stopped working" and "Shut Down unexpectedly" around the times I played Dark Souls.
Spoiler:
Reliability Report
<Event>
Time: 2021-12-10T23:47:04.705
Impact: Critical
Source: Windows Explorer
Problem: Stopped responding and was closed
State: Report sent
</Event>
<Event>
Time: 2021-12-20T11:49:01.691
Impact: Critical
Source: Windows
Problem: Hardware error
State: Not reported
</Event>
<Event>
Time: 2021-12-27T13:46:18.066
Impact: Critical
Source: Windows
Problem: Hardware error
State: Not reported
</Event>
<Event>
Time: 2022-01-15T21:36:40.070
Impact: Critical
Source: Windows
Problem: Hardware error
State: Not reported
</Event>
<Event>
Time: 2022-01-15T22:07:35.940
Impact: Critical
Source: Snes9X
Problem: Hardware error
State: Not reported
</Event>
<Event>
Time: 2022-03-08T20:18:08.000
Impact: Critical
Source: Windows
Problem: Hardware error
State: Not reported
</Event>
<Event>
Time: 2022-03-19T00:41:54.363
Impact: Critical
Source: Windows
Problem: Shut down unexpectedly
State: Not reported
</Event>
<Event>
Time: 2022-03-19T01:06:17.928
Impact: Critical
Source: Windows
Problem: Shut down unexpectedly
State: Not reported
</Event>
<Event>
Time: 2022-03-20T22:25:38.054
Impact: Critical
Source: Windows
Problem: Hardware error
State: Not reported
</Event>
I reviewed the event viewer and noticed this message in the log for the blue screens:
"The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error might occur if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."
Additionally, I see these errors, likely unrelated, that appear about 10 minutes to 2 hours before the issue:
"Miniport Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #2, {<big guid here>}, encountered a fatal error: The miniport failed a power transition to operational power"
These events often happen without a blue screen, making it hard to determine if they are connected.
In line with previous discussions.
When I notice more errors and different types of issues such as shutdowns, bluescreens, etc., the power supply becomes a likely cause.
Are there any concerns about the battery, charger, or charging process?
Do you have another known working battery and charger to test?
What is the remaining warranty coverage for the laptop?
When I had these problems, I was using the USB at the time. I've had the Dark Souls disconnect issue with Bluetooth as well, but I can't remember if I had the blue screen issue too.
I always have a USB hub connected, not for use of the USB's, but because there's an HDMI port on it, it allows me to convert USB-C to HDMI. The cooling pad has a two-sided USB connector on it to power the fan, I plug that into the USB hub, and the controller I plug in straight into the laptop.
I haven't noticed any problems with charging or battery life.
Not only do I not have another battery, I will never open this laptop myself.
As for Warranty, I'm not sure how it works, because I kind of got this laptop by accident. Bought a Razer Edge laptop from a friend, and then sent it in for repairs ~2 years later.
I paid them $99 for shipping/analysis, then another $99 to replace the battery, but then it turned out they didn't have any replacement batteries for that model anymore, so they sent me a brand new Razer Edge instead, but a newer model with a better video card. They sent it around 22 March, 2021, estimated to be received on the 29th of March, 2021.
So... maybe I have about 5 days left on my warranty if I have one at all, but I don't know what problem I could even describe to Razer.
"Just play some Dark souls for a while, you'll see..."
My GF and I play "It Takes Two" on it sometimes, and we haven't run into this problem.